Mirae Asset Acquires Korbit, Becomes Largest Shareholder in South Korea Crypto Exchange

• Mirae Asset concluded its purchase of Korbit and aims to boost its holdings from 92.06% to 97.15%.
• The milestone deal is the first in South Korea, where an affiliate of a traditional financial group acquires a domestic cryptocurrency exchange.

South Korea’s financial sector has made yet another important move toward digital assets through a groundbreaking corporate deal this week. Mirae Asset Consulting, an affiliate of Mirae Asset Financial Group, has concluded its acquisition of cryptocurrency exchange Korbit and become the largest shareholder in the company by completing all necessary regulatory processes. The deal is of great importance since it is the first time that an affiliate of a traditional financial group in South Korea acquires a domestic cryptocurrency exchange.

Once the transaction for the controlling stake was completed, Mirae Asset announced its intentions to further increase its ownership in Korbit. According to filings to authorities, Mirae Asset has announced to make additional purchases of Korbit worth about $5.32 million. This will see its ownership level increase from 92.06% to 97.15%. According to local reports, this new transaction is likely to be completed in the coming days. Thereby strengthening Mirae Asset’s control over South Korea’s longest operating cryptocurrency exchange.

Traditional Finance Boosts Digital Asset Portfolio

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission recently approved the transaction following an assessment of the transaction. The approval of this transaction marked the first of such a nature where an affiliate of a traditional finance company acquires a cryptocurrency exchange

According to Mirae Asset Consulting, the acquisition is part of its larger business strategy. This was aimed at obtaining future growth possibilities that are related to digital assets. It was not meant to interfere with Korbit’s current operations. Hence, it will continue to operate within its current corporate structure. The user deposits, platform operations, and management of personal data will stay the same after the change of ownership.

Korbit Improves Its Standing in South Korean Market

Korbit is one of the well-known South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges and ranks fourth by trading volume. Amid stiff competition, this shows that there is growing interest by traditional financial firms in digital assets. This is an indication of the growing convergence between traditional finance and cryptocurrency markets.

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